Improvement in crucibles and pottery molds



W. DRISCOLL. Crucible and Pottery Mold.

No. 217,593. Patented July 15, 1879.

ATTORNEYS.

UNI-TED TATES ATENT OFFICE.

WVILLIAM DRISOOLL, OF TAUN TON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF ANDWILLIAM T. MACFARLANE, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CRUCIBLES AND POTTERY MOLDS.

Specification forming part of Lctters'Patent No. 217,593, dated July 15,1879 application filed December 3, 1878.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM DRISOOLL, ofTaunton, in the county of Bristol and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented a new and Improved Crucible and Pottery Mold, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a mold in which to formcrucibles that can be removed from the completed crucible immediatelywithout waiting for it to dry and without injuring it in the slightestdegree, whereby fewer molds are required to carry on the work, and amore uniform drying of the crucible is obtained.

It consists of a mold made of wood or other suitable material, providedwith an inside lining of cloth or other suitable flexible fabric.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of acrucible-mold, provided with my improvement; and Fig. 2 is a top view orplan of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The crucible-molds now in use are made of plaster and also of iron. Whenmade of plaster they cannot be removed from the completed crucible untilwell dried without injury, and the result is that a mold has to be provided for every crucible made during a days work.

In the case of iron molds their use is inconvenient on account of theirweight, and while it is designed to remove them from the crucible assoon as completed they cannot always be depended upon to come offwithout injuring the crucible; consequently their use is somewhatlimited.

My invention i sdesigned to cure both these defects, and I will nowproceed to describe it.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the outer shell of my improvedmold, divided longitudinally into two equal parts in the usual manner.The outside of this shell is like the mold at present in use, so that itis adapted equally with that to be placed in the kettle and clamped tothe machine on which the crucible is formed. The inside of this shell,or both parts of it, is lined with a cloth or other fabricated lining,B, extending from the mouth of the mold a to the bottom I), as shown inthe drawings. This lining is only secured at its edges to the moldthatis, the top and bottom edges are turned over the top and bottom of themold, as shown at c c, and the sides are turned around and secured tothe faces of each section, as shown at d d, Fig. 2. Thus that part incontact with the inside surface of the shell is unsecured, butnevertheless is laid over it without wrinkles or other unevenness.

On the top of the shell is placed a metal rim, 0, to protect the lap ofthe lining. The ends of this rim are designed, in practice, to be turneddown on the face of each section, so as to make a neat finish and avoidcatching. The mold thus made is placed in the kettle of thecrucible-machine precisely as the mold now in use, and the operation offorming the crucible is proceeded with in the usual manner but whencompleted the mold is lifted from the machine, unclamped, and removedimmediately from the crucible instead of setting the whole away for thecrucible to dry. This will be found practicable, as the lining will partreadily from the surface of the crucible without injuring it in theslightest degree. Thus one mold of each size will be found sufficientfor each machine, and it can be kept constantly in use. So also as thewhole of the crucible can thus be exposed as a result of its removalfrom the mold, it can be dried more evenly than when incased in themold, and thus it is more homogeneous than when treated in the ordinarymanner.

Another advantage is obtained from the ability this construction of themold gives to allow the crucible-mixture to be worked stiifer than canbe done where plaster molds are used. The mold thus formed is notconfined to the making of crucibles. It can be used in all branches ofthe ceramic art where molds are ordinarily used.

The material of which the lining is composed may be cloth or any otherfabricated material having the same or similar flexible qualities, andit may be attached to the mold in any way, either by tacking, asdescribed and shown herein, or by gluing, or any other way that willhold it.

ent I As an improvement in crucible-molds, the shell vA, provided withthe inside lining, B, of cloth or other flexible fabric, permanentlysecured thereto, substantially as shown and described, and for thepurpose set forth.

WILLIAM DRISOOLL.

Witnesses F. J. MACFARLANE, W. T. MACFARLANE.

